Sarah MacDonald (musician)

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Sarah MacDonald
Sarah MacDonald (musician) (cropped).jpg
MacDonald in 2019
Born (1968-11-22) 22 November 1968 (age 55)
Ottawa, Canada
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Organist and conductor
Website Official website

Sarah Elizabeth Arwen MacDonald [1] (born 22 November 1968) is a Canadian-born organist, conductor, and composer, living in the United Kingdom, and currently holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, [2] and Director of the girl choristers at Ely Cathedral. [3] She has been at Selwyn since 1999, and is the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. In 2018 MacDonald was given the honorary award of Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM).

Contents

Education

MacDonald came to the United Kingdom from Canada in 1992 as organ scholar of Robinson College, Cambridge, after studying piano, organ, and conducting at The Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, [4] and John Tuttle. At Cambridge she read for a degree in music, and studied the organ with David Sanger. Her early musical studies as a pianist took place at the Victoria Conservatory of Music on the west coast of British Columbia. [5]

Career

MacDonald has played numerous recitals and conducted choirs throughout the UK, North America, the Middle East, New Zealand, and much of mainland Europe. She has made over 35 recordings as pianist, organist, conductor, and producer, and currently works most frequently with Regent Records. [6] MacDonald is a winner of the Royal College of Organists’ (RCO) Limpus Prize, and has taught organ and conducting for Eton Choral Courses, Oundle for Organists, the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy, and courses run by the RCO. For its first 10 years, she was a regular director of the Girl Chorister Course at St Thomas' Church Fifth Avenue, in New York City, [7] and is a guest conductor of international RSCM residential courses (Charlotte NC 2016, Rhode Island 2017, Pacific Northwest 2018, Australia 2020). [8] MacDonald holds the Royal College of Organists' Fellowship Diploma (FRCO), is Examiner for the RCO and the Cambridge University Music Faculty, and also spent many years as a member of the Academic Board of the RCO and as a Trustee. [9] She is an Honorary Patron of the Herbert Howells Society and of the Society of Women Organists. In 2023 she was appointed University Organist at Cambridge, the first woman to hold this ceremonial role which dates back to 1670.

MacDonald is active as a composer, and has had works published by Encore Publications, [10] the Royal School of Church Music, [11] August Press, [12] and St James Music Press. [13] In January 2020, the 'Sarah MacDonald Choral Series' with Selah Publishing [14] was launched.

MacDonald also writes a popular monthly column for the American Guild of Organists' magazine 'The American Organist', called "UK Report". In November 2022 a compendium of these essays was published in a book "Cathedrals, Chapels, Organs, Choirs". In August 2023, MacDonald co-edited with Timothy Rogers a new anthology of carols which includes her own descants and last verses for nine popular congregational carols. [15]

In July 2023 it was announced that MacDonald has been elected as the next President of the Royal College of Organists, [16] to take office in July 2024.

Selected discography

Selected publications

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References

  1. Selwyn College Calendar 2020–2021. Selwyn College, Cambridge. 2021. p. 9 via Issuu.
  2. "Fellows – Selwyn College, Cambridge".
  3. "Music – Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir". Ely Cathedral. 6 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  4. "Marek Jablonski | The Canadian Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  5. "VCM Alumni".
  6. http://www.regent-records.co.uk Encore Publications website
  7. "About – St. Thomas Choir School". Choirschool.org. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  8. "PEOPLE".
  9. "About Us: Patrons & Officers". RCO. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  10. "Encore Publications – Welcome to Encore Publications".
  11. Open thou our lips – Evensong music for upper voices | RSCM Music Direct
  12. "Take Delight in the Lord (SSAATTBB ) by Sara | J.W. Pepper Sheet Music".
  13. St James Music Press website
  14. "405-316 Star in the East – David Ashley White".
  15. "Sarah MacDonald".
  16. "Sarah MacDonald announced as RCO President Elect".
  17. "Christmas from Selwyn".
  18. Composing and Recording News | John Hosking BMus(Hons), ARCO – Concert Organist Archived 2014-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
  19. Alan Bullard official website
  20. "The Eternal Ecstasy – Music of Visionary Transcendence".
  21. Performances 2013 | Philip Cooke official website
  22. "Alan Bullard - composer". Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  23. Recording | Paul Spicer official website